What is Google AdWords?
Google AdWords is an advertising service provided by the search engine giant Google. Google AdWords markets your advert in the Google Search Engine and the affiliated sites. They do this by the use of a text ad that appears when people search phrases which match the adverts and the link appears with “sponsored link” on it.
A screen shot of a Google search with certain companies using Google AdWords to rank high on the search
The system is a “pay per click” system which means the advertiser can dictate where the advert appears through bidding for a series of phrases. But part of the benefits of Google AdWords is the pay per click element, the advertiser only pays when someone clicks on the ad to visit the website.
The benefits of Google AdWords
In this section of the blog we are going to discuss the key benefits of the marketing method.
- AdWords is Measurable
Measuring the success of a marketing campaign can be very difficult, especially in traditional marketing such as television marketing (Bonoma, 1985). The new era of marketing online is becoming increasingly easier to measure the success or failure. Google AdWords is one of the most measurable pay per click advertising platforms out there. Google AdWords is transparent, and provides a large amount of pay per click metrics that allow the advertiser to see what works and what doesn’t (Gabbert, 2012). For example the business owner can use Google Analytics, and this can be set up in a matter of minutes. Demonstrated by Google in a tutorial on YouTube:
(Google Ads, 2012)
Start-ups will be new at AdWords, thus at the beginning it will be a trial and error process to establish what words are relevant and which words provide the highest conversion rate. Thus, this benefit will provide the business with a tactic to measure the conversion rates easily, and efficiently.
- AdWords is easier than search engine optimisation
Google AdWords is usually easier to use in comparison to search engine optimisation strategies. Search Engine Optimisation is often difficult and requires a team of well experience and well trained people to do a good job (Webb, 2011). Start-ups will more often than not, not be able to afford search engine optimisation specialists. This can be outlined by Trond Lyngbo, outlining the difficulties which businesses face when approaching the challenging task of Search Engine Optimisation, supporting the advantage of AdWords being easier than SEO.
- Search Engine Optimisation is often slow
As previously stated search engine optimisation usually requires a team and also requires highly trained employees. For new businesses and websites, search engine optimisation can require a large budget and a large time scale, and it can take months for one to see positive results from search engine optimisation strategies (Vegh, 2010). In comparison to search engine optimisation, AdWords can work straight away for new business and the business can see results in a short period of time. Start-ups want to start earning money as soon as possible to break even, search engine optimisation frequently takes a longer time than AdWords.
- AdWords can be a cheap method
This benefit is not to say that it is always a cheaper marketing strategy. Large companies such as WallMart, PC Mall and Amazon spend millions of dollars on AdWords. Google provide the buyer with a ‘no visit, no fee’ method, i.e. the pay per click element of the advertising. They also provide the buyer with a budget, and the investment is totally up to the buyer. Start-ups will frequently have a small budget as they will have no cash left over from previous profitable years, thus the method of controlling your budget is necessary for a start up.
- Is AdWords traffic better than organic traffic?
This is the final benefit we are going to consider in this blog. Obviously traffic is great, whether it is organic or AdWords, although, businesses want a successful conversion rate which is going to make the advertising worthwhile. Libbey outlined that pay per click advertising, i.e. Google AdWords converts better than organic traffic (Libbey, 2009). However, the debate is still on going, which is the topic of another discussion, and it may be dependent on the industry of which the business is working in.
The negatives of Google AdWords
- Paying for clicks
This negative relates to the final positive in the benefits section. When a business starts up they may be paying up to £6 per click to get people to their website. Some clicks can actually be in the range of £60 per clicks. However, the key issue with this negative is that whenever someone clicks on the advert, the business still has to pay Google, despite the fact that they may have clicked straight off of the website. This point also relates to the effectiveness of a businesses landing page, and the relevance of the search to the landing page. However, the principle negative of this point is that, despite a successful landing page, or an unsuccessful landing page, the business still has to pay, even if they do not make a sale.
- The Competition is fierce
As it was previously stated that AdWords can be a relatively cheap medium of advertising, however, it may not be worthwhile if the business can only invest a small amount of cash. Large companies can afford to invest significant sums into AdWords advertising, compared to smaller companies (Kenney, 2015). As a start-up competing with large companies it is going to be increasingly difficult in every way possible, however, AdWords provides a very difficult task as start-ups do not have the budget.
- You may not need to reach the millions
One of Google AdWords’ key sales point is that you can reach the millions, as with any digital marketing campaign, supposedly. However, for some markets AdWords is not suitable, for example the target audience are not regular users of google, such as elderly’s. Consequently, another use of marketing may be more relevant.
Conclusion
Throughout the course of writing this blog we have attempted to establish the benefits and negatives of using Google AdWords for a business which is new, or new online. The course of research has provided me with five key benefits which are applicable to small businesses. It can be observed that there are more applicable benefits to using Google AdWords, however, the negatives should be taken into consideration when a small business is considering using the marketing method.
The negatives which should be taken with extra caution is whether the AdWords is relevant to the businesses market, and to keep within your budget. The first negative is very relevant, although Google AdWords does not guarantee customers, it does guarantee traffic to a certain extent. The next step is up to the business, the landing page should be relevant to the search (Meerman, 2007). However, this is a discussion for another day.
The final words is a word of advice for start-ups, Google AdWords is an excellent marketing method which has proved to be very successful for a number of businesses and one would advise any start-up to use it. However, the negatives should be taken with extreme caution. Start-ups should perform a lot of research to establish whether the method is relevant to the market, whether they have the budget for AdWords to be successful and what types of phrases and words are relevant to make the marketing method successful.
References
Elisa Gabbert. (2012) ‘Why use AdWords? Here are 10 reasons.’ http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/12/03/why-use-adwords [Accessed 30/03/2015]
Webb, Hillary. “Search engine optimization.” (2011).
Vegh, Aaron. “Search Engine Optimization.” Web Development with the Mac®(2010): 221-239.
https://www.google.co.uk/adwords/ [Accessed 30/03/2015]
Libbey, N. (2009) ‘True or False: Organic Traffic Converts Better than PPC’ http://moz.com/ugc/true-or-false-organic-traffic-converts-better-than-ppc [Accessed 30/03/2015]
Kenney, R. ‘Google AdWords – Destroyer of Small Business’ https://concept5.com/google-adwords-destroyer-of-small-business/ [Accessed 30/03/2015]
Scott, David Meerman. “The New Rules of Marketing.” (2007).
Google Ads. (2012). Video: how to link your AdWords and Analytics accounts. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKrU7jExa70. Last accessed 21 April 2015.
Lyngbo, T. (2013). 6 SEO Challenges Every Business Owner & Marketer Must Contend With In 2014. Available: http://searchengineland.com/6-challenges-every-business-owner-marketer-must-know-about-seo-in-2014-170386. Last accessed 21 April 2015.